


better to burn than to fade away

by AzulticSerpens



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Frottage, Iron Man 2 AU, M/M, Sexual Content, Thor AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 23:21:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzulticSerpens/pseuds/AzulticSerpens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki takes it upon himself after visiting Thor on Midgard to stay longer and find what was so enchanting about its inhabitants. He stumbles upon a most peculiar man. Tony Stark.</p><p>Tony just wants to forget his disastrous birthday party and follows the suspicious Natalie Rushman's advice: “I’d do whatever I wanted to do…with whoever I wanted to do it with.”</p><p>Tony Stark is not going to die a whimpering failure. He'll do anything to stop it, even if he burns himself in this affair with the tall, dark, and handsome intriguing Loki.</p><p>Iron Man 2 and Thor AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	better to burn than to fade away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HalcyonFrost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalcyonFrost/gifts).



> See End Note for playlist.

better to burn than to fade away  
AzulticSerpens

 

* * *

 

“It was a pleasure to burn.”  
Fahrenheit 451

 

* * *

 

_It was almost astonishing how he had managed to fool his brother so thoroughly. Then again, Thor was too trusting. And that had been Thor's weakness, to which he had gladly exploited. With Thor out of the picture, he would be free to rule Asgard as he saw fit. His true birthright._

_Thor was in the hands of some misguided Midgard organization. The efforts to contain a possible threat were a happy occurrence that was not unwelcome, and with him unlikely to be released, Loki just might take a small detour from his plan. Loki was full of triumph that everything seemed to be falling into place, just as planned._

_A downtrodden Thor was a defeated Thor. The oaf was all action powered by enthusiastic emotion; once that was snatched from Thor, he was as weak as a lamb. Despite Mjolnir not working for him, he had no intention of somehow relocating it away from the mortals and the vicinity of Thor. Surely Thor would never change, unwavering as the Thunder he was known to the mortals for._

_There was that small trifling matter to deal with: the disobedience of Sif and the Warriors._

_But that could wait._

_For now, all that was of interest were these creatures on Midgard._

_Loki did wonder what it was about mortals that could be so engrossing. In past centuries, he had made voyages to the realm but never stayed long._

_Perhaps he would go and find out himself—_

 

\-------------

 

Tony nursed his hangover with a glazed donut, glad for the sunglasses he had thought to bring. They were a pretty good shield against the Southwestern blazing sun. He shifted uncomfortably in his suit, which made odd noises as it rubbed the plastic of his seat.

 

However, his suit was not any normal business suit.

 

As if Tony Stark could ever stoop to anything normal. The suit was only a rather worse-for-the-wear Mark VI.

 

It was probably going to need a new upgrade pretty soon, he thought as he shifted again. This time raising a leg to rest against the curve of the donut. The damn joints of the suit were acting up again after that throwdown with Rhodey. And the spontaneous baking in his own fireplace was probably a factor here too, somewhere.

 

If getting thrown drunkenly into walls at his own house wasn’t enough of a warning, then maybe everyone running away from his monster of a birthday party should have been one. Jesus. Had he really roared at his guests while drunk off his ass?

 

Tony realized he was definitely at a new low in his life. And he was dying.

 

In some misguided as hell attempt to tie up some loose ends in his life and made amends, he fucking blew the few connections he gave a damn for. In a single night, he managed to alienate Pepper and Rhodey.

 

Hell, he probably ruined his public image too, if he could even muster a shade of caring for.

 

Best friend, gone. Best assistant he could ask for and maybe something more, gone. The Mark II suit was gone, too. And Tony could not help but think grimly, knowing that once Rhodey had nothing to believe in Tony, there wasn’t a chance in hell that Colonel James Rhodes (ever the consummate soldier) didn’t take the suit straight to the air force.

 

He was interrupted in his brooding thoughts when a thin, but demanding voice called up to him from the ground.

 

“What?” Tony called down, pushing his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose.

 

It was a thin man in his late seventies that waved his cane at him. “I said come down and eat inside, young man. You can’t stay up there forever!”

 

Tony thought about refusing but decided to get down anyway. He was just tired.

 

He dropped to the ground carelessly. “Say, aren’t you that Iron Man? You look like you need a good cup of coffee.” the old man said kindly.

 

Tony cringed when he accidentally turned to the bright sun. “Yeah. Coffee sounds real good right now.”

 

“You’re at the right place! By the way, I’m Randy. I own the donut shop.”

 

“Huh. Call me Tony.” he said walking in and sitting in a booth. “You got any more glazed?”

 

_________________________________________

 

Randy had taken over the counter at the donut shop and got Tony hooked up—with what seemed like the best glazed donuts he’d had in a while. They could give his old favorite in NYC a run for their money.

 

Coffee wasn’t too bad either, Tony mused, headache from all the booze he had last night feeling like it was getting better. He wasn't really sure how much he had to drink last night; it was all a blur.

 

He squinted into his coffee mug, patching the events of the previous night together. Tony probably had a glass of scotch getting ready. And then had some whiskey at the party before he really went all out, drinking straight from a bottle of bourbon.

 

Eh. Tony's been on more disastrous benders in college. And when he was a complete party animal through the nineties.

 

He took a large bite of donut, remembering all the carefree memories. Then he lost his train of thought when he glanced out the large windows.

 

Was that a mirage?

 

Tony wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't tripping out on the after effects of too much booze the night before. He pulled down his shades to squint at the dark shape in the sun. Wasn't it only in cartoons when the guy, almost giving up in the desert, looked up to find a giant oasis with palm trees?

There was a man crossing through the parking lot in a very nice suit. Tony watched as he opened the door of the donut place and walked in. The man saw how Tony was staring at him and strode confidently toward his booth.

 

"You look like one who would rather be any place but here." He ventured.

 

"Hate to break it to you, but you look out of place too." retorted Tony

 

"Hm. True." allowed the man "But you yourself are not quite matching the customary person at this establishment. Or what I am given to believe is normal for this country.”

 

“Whoa. Too many words for this early, man.” Tony cringed.

 

“It is nearly noon. Not exactly what one might call early.” He paused. “I was referring to your...questionable attire.”

 

Tony, still with sunglasses on in the restaurant, squinted at him through the dark lenses.

 

“What, my suit?” he asked teasingly. He tapped a metal finger at this chest, eliciting a metallic clunk.

 

The tall man in front of him frowned at Tony. “I would consider it a sort of armor.”

 

Tony stared at the man incredulously. Had this stranger never heard of Iron Man? Of the suit? Of him? It wasn’t that he was conceited. Okay, he was conceited, and with good reason. He could hardly go anywhere without being mobbed before the whole Vanko fiasco. The media couldn’t get enough of him. Now, with every single news outlet taking it upon themselves to blare every single tiny tidbit they could find out about him to further criticize and discredit his name, it would be pretty hard to escape knowing nothing about him or Iron Man.

 

This was getting interesting. Even with a hangover.

 

Tony realized that he was not going to let the stranger go anywhere until he got his answers.

 

Ignoring the painful twinges of palladium poisoning creeping up his neck, Tony told tall, dark, and handsome “Hey, why don’t you have a seat? I have a feeling this is going to take a while.”

 

Tall, dark, and handsome quirked a brow at his forwardness, but sat down in the squeaky yellow vinyl booth. The contrast between the small-town donut shop and the stately man made Tony grin at him under his shades.

-——  
Now that the man was situated in front of him and not likely to escape Tony's figurative metal claws, Tony got started.

 

"That’s odd. I thought everyone had heard of me. You live under a rock, raven?"

 

"Raven?"

 

"You remind me of one." explained Tony, "Don't look too much into it; I'm way hungover right now." He tipped his sunglasses down and looked over them at Loki. "Now back to the question—"

 

"I'm not...from around here." said Loki carefully.

 

"Oh?"

 

"Yes, I don't think you've heard of it." the dark haired man elaborated, looking at the giant donut sign outside. Loki then looked back at him, eyes dancing with hidden laughter, as if sharing a private joke only he could know. "It's so far off."

 

“Well, it can’t be that far away.”

 

“Trust me" the mysterious man entreated, double meaning hovering between his request, and something like pain flitting across his expression.

 

What did a dying man have to lose to agree to such a simple request? Nothing at all.

 

“Okay,” Tony agreed simply. Then he remembered that he never told this stranger his name and that couldn’t keep calling him tall, dark, and handsome , even if it was only in his head. Besides, he was going to have that perplexing experience of having to introduce himself to someone for the first time in many years without them knowing who he was beforehand. “I never introduced myself right? My bad, I’m Tony Stark. Uh, you can call me Tony.” he rambled, sticking a hand out to the man across the table.

 

The man looked down at the offered hand with some weird confusion and then brought out his own hand to Tony’s. It was rather cold, uncharacteristic for the sunny weather. And the man did nothing except hold him in a surprisingly firm grip, so Tony had to initiate the handshake himself, else they would just stay there, holding hands awkwardly. They shook once, twice, and after the third, they let go.

 

Tony was left feeling bereft of the company of another’s skin pressed to his but suppressed the urge to snatch the man by his tie and jet off to his destroyed mansion.

 

“Allow me to introduce myself, I am Loki, of—” the man cut off, looking like he struggled internally, then resumed as if nothing had happened. “—of a far off realm.”

 

“Uh huh. Loki,” Tony drawled out, noticing how the man—no, Loki now—leaned forward all too interested. “Read Norse mythology by any chance recently?”

 

Loki’s face and clear green eyes—how fucking ridiculously perfect was that?— were carefully blank as he replied. “No—” the pale man denied. “No, I cannot say I have had the pleasure.”

 

Tony harrumphed suspiciously then changed the subject.

 

“You were asking about my suit, right? I guess you could say it’s like armor. It could act as armor but thats not the only thing it does.” he said.

 

"No?"

 

"It does a lot of things," waggling his eyebrows,"I've got my AI on there, and he does a lot of things by accessing my private server remotely. Of course, then you can't forget the weapons installed. I was a weapons manufacturer before, y'know."

 

Loki looked deeply interested at what Tony was telling him. And Tony was somewhat uncharacteristically pleased at telling someone who had no prior knowledge or assumptions about him about what he loved to do.

 

"Your AI?" Loki tried carefully, as if the words were unfamiliar to him.

 

"Yeah, I built up my own Artificial Intelligence. I think he's the best of his kind, no matter what some of my competitors try to come up with each year."

 

"You speak of this artificially intelligent creation as if it was truly real."

 

Tony rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and the movement drew Loki's attention to the raised lines of his Palladium poisoning on his neck. "I guess I tend toward anthropomorphism when it comes to my robots and creations. Anyways, sometimes they've got more heart than some humans."

 

"Tell me more." said Loki in an arch tone.

 

"I created my AI and gave him knowledge and wit. He's named JARVIS, short for Just A Rather Intelligent System. He's kinda like my shadow, always there in a pinch."

"Anyway, I'm known round these parts as Iron Man." Tony told him.

 

"Iron Man? Isn't that rather presumptuous?"

 

"Hey, don’t blame me. It’s what the media started calling me! And the suit isn’t even made of iron, anyway.”

They talked comfortably for what felt like an age but was actually maybe an hour or two. Then Loki made a comment that changed the course of their acquaintance forever.

 

“I do strive to misbehave.” grinned Loki, and Tony felt himself struck by the sensation of falling, plummeting into a familiar, yet foreign desire. His eyes raked down the thin man’s physique, appreciating how the three-piece suit, not something that Tony himself would wear but nonetheless liked seeing on others—especially on Loki, clung to the tall man's frame. Loki was all sharp angles and meticulous selection.

 

Tony took in Loki's regal presence, half admiring how composed he seemed. He guessed the man was in the country for business, what with the man's air of efficiency and green, green eyes that scrutinized him without mercy.

 

Mercy— He'd give his last days in return for making this arousing man beg for mercy between his sheets. How he began to feel a fire curling deep in the pit of his stomach that demanded to be sated by the taking of the beautiful creature he saw in front of him!

 

All these past weeks, worrying, agonizing, frantically searching, came down to this. He had tried everything he could and failed in this one thing that mattered: his life. Tony narrowly escaped the claws of death before, but now it had snuck up on him without him noticing until it was too late.

 

His last check with the blood toxicity meter before the party made his blood run cold at the impending death that loomed so close and as sure as the holo-screen that glowed at him the inescapable truth of 89% in frigid ice blue.

 

Tony remembered talking with Natalie, that suspicious woman from Legal (apparently), as if from a far off dream.

 

_Natalie had perched herself on the arm of his chair and Tony had brought himself to ask the one thing weighing on his mind:_  
 _“If this was the last birthday you were ever going to have, how would you celebrate it?”_

_Natalie’s emotions seemed to win over her usual professional mask and she seemed almost wistful (for a far away person, Tony guessed) as she had replied, “I’d do whatever I wanted to do…. with whoever I wanted to do it with.”_

He’d taken upon himself to get so fucking wasted and parade around his party in the Mark IV like a complete dick. What a waste of a birthday.

 

But, he began to think as he looked at Loki’s mischievous grin and all the promise he saw in those glinting green eyes, he hadn’t run out of time just yet. Tony just might have another chance of celebrating in a different way. He took the plunge.

 

"Well, I shoot to thrill. " Tony smirked. "How about we get out of this place?"

 

"Lead the way." smirked Loki.

\--

When Loki got himself situated behind him, Tony had prepared himself to take off to the skies but a sudden thought made him stop powering up the suit.

“You…don’t have anyone back home, do you?” he asked Loki.

“No. I am unattached.” replied Loki.

“Good.” Tony said. “Cause I’m going to need you to hold on.”

He abruptly let the thrusters on the suit go to full power. Tony let out a whoop as they shot up into the sky.

Loki released a strangled yelp at the shock, but recovered and began muttering curses in what seemed to be another language. Tony laughed.

__

Tony landed—crash landed, actually— in his kitchen. He slid several feet on his stomach, eliciting ear-splitting screeching noises as a result of the metal scraping the tile.

 

"Thank you for flying Air Stark. Exits are in any fucking direction you want. And sexual favors are definitely acceptable payment."

 

"You, my dear man, are insane." uttered Loki, eyes shining and just a bit shell-shocked.

 

"JARVIS? Initiate Project Elvis for me. I'll be...otherwise occupied." Tony said with a glance at Loki, who was examining the wreckage he caused fighting Rhodey.

 

"The full simulation, sir?"

 

Loki had turned his attention back to him, and the devilish promise in those emerald eyes was enough for Tony.

 

"All of it, JARVIS. Just keep them on their toes."

 

He stepped towards Loki, the businessman looking delectable in his perfectly tailored suit.

"I promise only the ground floor was wrecked." he grinned "I've got a nice room near my workroom. Would you like the grand tour?"

 

"I'd be delighted." replied Loki. "But I should think a short tour might be in effect. I don't think we can wait much longer." the paler man said lowly, while casually wetting his lips. That action, along with the tone and timbre of his voice did strange things to Tony’s cock.

 

"Right. Uh, last one to the workroom is on the bottom?" said Tony speedily.

 

Then he bolted for the outside passageway he usually used as Iron Man and left Loki standing there.

 

He still heard Loki’s howl of outrage as he chuckled and flew through the underground passageway.

 

________

 

Heh, it looked like his rather obscene dreams were going to come true. And come they would.

 

Tony had just gotten started on his mental pleasure as he entered the building. He had been going for a smooth landing, but all of thoughts went out of his head as he saw the workroom. Or rather, who was in it.

 

He was so caught by surprise that he stopped the flow of power to the jets and repulsors. Tony landed on his ass right in front of Loki. The faceplate slid up and he looked up at Loki stupefied.

 

“How in hell did you beat me here?”

 

Loki bent down to purr at him “Oh, I have various methods.” the suited man shed his coat. Loki removed his houndstooth scarf and threw it at Tony.

 

Tony caught the scarf. "Giving me a show, are you?" he growled. "Gimme a sec to get out of this." He tossed the scarf back to Loki.

 

He got up and walked over to an uneven patch of flooring, from where machinery sprang to life from the ground and began removing his suit.

 

Loki stood by, curiosity warring with the desire on his face. Quickly, Tony was free of the suit, clad in his dark red dress shirt he'd had at the party.

 

"At last," Loki breathed. They moved closer to each other, but evidently it wasn't enough for Loki, who swiftly hooked the scarf around Tony and pulled him in.

 

Loki whispered in his ear, "I've not known you for long yet you drive me mad. I must have you."

 

Tony stumbled back into a workbench as Loki pressed himself closer to him and seized the back of his head to devour his mouth. The shock of the Loki’s sudden advance wore off and Tony brought a hand up to cup Loki’s face, slipping his tongue into Loki’s mouth. It was rough and a little more possessive than what was normal for two strangers who just met, but they were anything but normal.

 

Tony was pressed so closely to Loki that he felt him hum a sound of appreciation lowly, seeming to like how Tony swiped his tongue down Loki’s. Tony wondered if Loki was imagining him licking a wet path down his body. He gripped Loki forcefully by the waist with one hand and kneaded his ass with another.

 

“Mm. Get that ass over here.” he groaned.

 

Loki sucked in a surprised breath. Arching into Tony, it made their half-hard cocks brush each other. He gave Tony a searing look punctuated by dilating pupils. Quickly, he ground his hips into Tony’s and dropped his head on the shorter man’s shoulder, moaning with every liberating twist of their hips.

 

Then he made Tony’s cock grow harder as he bit down on the junction between shoulder and neck. “Shit-”

 

Wet noises filled the air again following their resumed kiss. The pair kissed open mouthed, tongues fighting for dominance. Tony licked his way around Loki’s thin lips and then proceeded to map the roof of his mouth. Loki’s breathed hitched for a moment. He gripped Tony’s face amid the bruising press of his lips. The pale man nipped at Tony’s mouth, and Tony was pretty sure he could taste blood. Clearly this turned Loki on more, as he mixed saliva and blood in a filthy kiss, all the while gyrating against the slightly shorter man.

 

Tony was lost in the sensations and rational thought escaped him. All he could think of was how arousing Loki was and how he couldn’t get enough of him.

 

Tony caught his fingers in Loki’s long hair and then pulled until Loki bared his neck. He set about brushing butterfly light kisses to that long expanse of skin before really sucking at his neck in earnest. Tony worked methodically, starting near Loki's prominent collar bone and making his way up until Loki captured his mouth again. He pulled himself from Loki, and worked deftly at the buttons of the waistcoat. Once Tony had finished, Loki slid out of the garment and then tossed it in the general direction of a table.

They migrated to the bedroom.  
________

 

"Sir? It appears that a vehicle belonging to S.H.I.E.LD. and registered for Director Fury's use has entered the premises." alerted JARVIS.

 

"Oh shit, here comes the Sex Police," muttered Tony into Loki's hair.

 

Loki abruptly made to sit up from his original position lying down on his stomach. "The what?"

 

Tony whined at the loss of his pillow, but grudgingly got up.

 

"Uh, look. Don't worry about it, I'll go take care of it. They probably want to bitch at me for that stunt I pulled at the birthday party."

 

Tony got up and stretched.

 

That was weird, he thought. He felt better than he'd felt in weeks!

 

"You better dress quickly or I shall persuade you into another round." Loki said from the bed.

 

Tony turned and found Loki looking hungrily at him with half-lidded eyes. His cock stirred at the sight of Loki stretched out on the bed, hair mussed from the past hours activity.

 

He resisted the temptation that Loki posed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like them barging in on us fucking. " he replied while he searched for his boxers among the scattered clothes on the floor.

 

"Hmm. And I am not certain I want to share you with them."

 

Tony slipped his recovered clothes on and walked to the bed.

 

"Babe, after that night, I'm yours for as long as you want." he told Loki.

 

He leaned over the bed and braced his arms on either side of Loki as they kissed. Tony had intended it to be a goodbye-for-a-sec-while-I-kick-these-assholes-out kiss, but Loki—

 

Loki arched up into Tony and deepened the brief contact by slipping his tongue into Tony's mouth. The pale man gave the hottest moan Tony swore he'd ever heard, and Tony hitched Loki's leg up on his waist. It was rough and one of the wettest kisses he'd had, but it was making his pants feel tight.

 

Tony couldn't help but moan into Loki's mouth.

 

Loki threw his head back, hitting the headboard slightly, and Tony took advantage of the slim neck offered to him and he latched on to a spot that hadn't been marked yet, sucking a new mark of his claim on Loki. They grinded slowly and languidly, Loki's sheet covered cock brushing into Tony's restrained by dress pants.

 

"Shit—" Tony cursed out of breath, feeling like he was going mad because of the way Loki was moving. "Fuck, you feel so good." He ground his cock into Loki's all too willing body. Damn, it'd been too long and he couldn't get enough of this man he'd just met before he would die.

 

He pushed those sobering thoughts away and focused on the sensations Loki was producing in him. He rocked into Loki, easily feeling the others member with how hard they were now.

 

"Ugh—Tony—right there—" Loki wrapped his other leg around Tony and wickedly bit on Tony's ear lobe. The pain should've turned him off but it just turned him on even more.

 

Tony gasped "Too fucking sexy—uuh—"

 

Loki opened his eyes and looked up with pupils blown wide, with a thin frame of green around. "Can't help it." he smirked

 

"Yeah—" Tony rolled his hips punishingly "And who started this?"

 

He thrust down and Loki met his movement back with agile hips. Loki clung to him with his hands tangled in Tony's hair.

 

"Harder—" Loki hissed, ignoring the question.  
Their movements were more frantic with their need, and it looked almost as if they really were fucking stead of rutting against each other like animals in heat because of the time constraint. Dont want to get caught like guilty teenagers. No— their knowledge that SHIELD or Fury could come through that door only made their touches more delicious.

 

Tony raked a hand roughly through Loki's longer hair and gave it a tug like he had just found out hours ago that Loki liked. Loki arched again and twisted his fingers in Tony's hair in response.

 

He pulled Loki's hair again, rutting hard " Ugh—who the fuck do you think you are—ah—" Loki's legs tightened around him. "Seducing me—uh—again"

 

Loki raked his nails down Tony's back and leaned up to say in his ear "Shut up and touch me"

 

He wasted no time in leaning back to rip the sheet off Loki, the barrier between them. Tony made to grab lube from the nightstand but Loki stopped him.

 

"Don't bother"

 

Tony gave no protest and settled back on top of Loki, reaching down to unzip himself from his pants. He got both their cocks in a hand and reached down with the other—

 

"Stark, if you don't—" Loki broke off with a groan as he felt a finger enter him. His eyes shut and he moved his hips with such urgency.

 

"How's that feel, raven?" Tony asked, grinning. He added another finger, as Loki was still somewhat stretched from earlier.

 

"Ugh—acceptable, but if you would—" let out Loki. Tony moved his fingers, searching for that spot—

 

"TONY—" screeched Loki. The man had two distinct red spots over his cheekbones, flushed with desire. The sight of Loki looking so not composed had him getting closer to the edge. He had a feeling they were both so close to coming.

 

Tony slid their cocks together faster, and twisted his fingers into Loki's tight heat, eliciting short gasps from Loki as he did this. Loki frantically fucked himself on Tony's fingers.

 

"Oh—ah—ugh, harder, Tony" Loki dug his fingers in Tony's shoulders painfully but arousingly. Tony yanked Loki’s head back and nipped at his neck. Loki pushed Tony’s head down forcefully.

“Fuck you, Stark.” he hissed, hair awry and looking just like his disheveled avian nickname.

 

Tony just moved lower on Loki’s body, dragging his mouth over a prominent collarbone and tonguing the hollow there. He was rewarded by Loki’s sharp upward thrust and deep groan.

 

Heat was coiling tighter and tighter and his whole being felt like he was flying without his suit—

 

Then they both cried out as they came over each other's stomachs, breathing heavily.

 

Tony felt some familiar dampness on the fabric of his shirt, and he looked down to spy their combined come on it. He felt surprisingly more lighthearted than he would have normally felt with one-night stands ruining his things. But looking down at Loki had him revising that statement. No, Loki was not just a simple fuck that he would abandon. He was more than that—

 

"Sir, Director Fury has bypassed the security protocols and is in the shell of your home."

 

Fucking hell. SHIELD just had to barge in when he was going at it with Loki. He thanked small mercies that they had finished at least.

 

Tony huffed and dropped bodily next to Loki. "I gotta go deal with these assholes. They've got no respect for a dying man's wishes."

 

At that last statement, Loki turned to look at him with unreadable green eyes, flickering as he traced Tony's face with his eyes.

 

Thinking it was about sex, Tony offered, "How about a rain check on that alone time?"

 

"Do you want me to leave?"

 

"No!" Tony blurted, mind not quite catching up to his mouth. Loki raised an eyebrow at his outburst.

 

He backtracked quickly and corrected himself. "Uh. I meant, no, you don't have to go." Tony got up from the bed. "I'll hold them off and make sure they don't bother you."

 

"You are certain?"

 

Tony shot him an impetuous smile. "Let's ask JARVIS. JARVIS, when I am not sure about things?"

 

"Infrequently, sir." JARVIS replied. "Though these past weeks, you—"

 

"Thanks JARVIS, that's enough." Tony interrupted, knowing JARVIS was about to reveal something private.

 

Loki glanced at Tony knowingly at the attempt of concealing information.

 

He jokingly covered up with "They probably want me to join their super secret boy band.” But at the end Tony swallowed harshly.

 

Christ, what was even the point of dealing with Fury and his ilk? Tony was a dead man, and what use was he to a bunch of spies? They wouldn't be able to worm anything out of him or JARVIS. And Pepper—even though she hated his guts right now—was loyal to the end. Rhodey. Well, he didn't need JARVIS alerting him of the location of the Mark II to figure out where he took the 'borrowed' suit.

 

He thought briefly about running away again. Hiding from SHIELD, for a lack of a better word. The world showed how much they didn't like his help, so what better time to withdraw his hand than before he was completely removed from the picture?

 

Damn Fury.  
________________

 

“In case I didn’t tell you guys clearly enough last time, I really don’t feel like joining your super secret boy band.” said Tony as he walked into the remains of his charred kitchen. He took a seat next to Fury.

 

Fury’s one eye narrowed dangerously, and suddenly Tony was reminded that Fury was the director of a secret organization that could make him disappear very easily. An organization that he managed to fool into thinking he was out flying and doing random things in the Southwest region of the US. It appeared that he had done too well with Project Elvis. Fury was positively pissed.

 

“Do I even want to know why you sent us on a useless chase through New Mexico, Arizona, and the Grand Canyon?” Fury barked.

 

Tony gulped, but demanded anyway, “What do you want from me?”

 

“You have become a serious problem. A problem I have to deal with.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” tried Tony to interject.

 

“No, you don’t ‘get it’, Stark. I have bigger problems to deal with in the Southwest than to go for a wild goose chase for your ass.”

 

Fury snapped his fingers abruptly. “Hit him.”

 

Suddenly Tony felt a sharp stabbing pain in his neck and he flinched away. “OH GOD!” he shouted. “Are you guys going to steal my kidney and sell it?”

 

He was grabbed by his chin and forced to turn his head by —surprise, surprise— Natalie so that they could look at his neck.

 

“I knew there was something fishy about you, Natalie. Or is that just a codename?” snarked Tony.

 

She stood behind Fury impressively in a get-up he wouldn’t be surprised to see on an assassin. Now she was out of her role as Natalie Rush, employee at Stark Industries, he could feel the subtle threat clear as day.

 

“You’ve met our operative, Natasha Romanoff, before, I think.” Fury answered almost sarcastically.

 

“What she’d do to me?” demanded Tony.

 

“It's what we’re doing for you.” replied Fury, getting annoyingly all-knowing. “Lithium Dioxide. Takes the edge off the pain from the crossword puzzle you’ve got going on your skin.”

 

“What crossword puzzle?” asked Tony. Come to think of it, he hadn’t felt any pain since… he brought home Loki. “Look, ever since I was with Lo—without anyone,“ he flubbed, cursing himself for the slip up. “I’ve been feeling better.”

 

Tony rubbed at his neck and Fury, along with Natalie—shit, Natasha—, scrutinized him suspiciously.

“What’s that on your neck?” asked Natasha.

Tony’s blood went cold. Dammit, he knew he was going to regret letting Loki mark him so much. Now, they both were staring at the hickeys.

“Nothing! It’s nothing. But since you insist, I could take some of the lithium off your hands.” Tony joked.

 

Natasha interrupted his pleased thoughts. “Lithium dioxide is not a cure. It only helps with the symptoms.”

 

Tony looked at her with veiled disbelief. Then Fury had to join the fucking pessimist party too.

 

“Doesn’t look like it’s going to be an easy fix.” observed Fury.

 

“If you’re all done having fun while it’s my own goddamn life here at stake--” began Tony angrily. Then he stopped and forced himself to calm down. “I’ve tried every possible combination of every element. Every permutation, whatever -nation, looking for a suitable replacement for Palladium.” said Tony stiffly, face hard.

 

“Well, then you need to try again.” Fury told him. Maddening cue ball with an eye patch that he was.

 

“What does that mean?” challenged Tony.

 

Fury settled back into his chair and surveyed Tony. “Your father said you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started with the arc reactor.”

 

“Yeah, and that ended when I miniaturized it and put it here.” Tony retorted, pointing at his chest. Then he stopped to completely process what Fury had also said. About his father. “My dad said that?”

 

“He did.” confirmed Fury. “He always said that the arc reactor was a stepping stone for something greater.” Fury turned his one good eye to bore into him. “Now, I’m not talking about just miniaturizing it. No, Howard dreamed of starting something that could rival the nuclear arms race. Something you could do. And if you are that guy...then you can solve the riddle of your heart.”

 

Jesus Christ. Fury had just spouted something that was the most fucking cryptic message ever. Tony scowled at him, frustrated and confused. He started shaking his head.  
“Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard but my dad didn’t love or even like me, much less trust me enough to pass down something even more monumental than the arc reactor to me. The kid he barely even acknowledged. I just don’t get that.” Tony made a face, but continued on.

 

“His happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school and could wipe his hands of me.” he leaned back, face blank, and old wounds feeling as painful as the day they ripped into his heart.

 

And then Fury had to go say, “That’s not true.”

 

“How do you know? Well, clearly, you knew my dad better than I did.” said Tony bitterly. “I guess everyone but me did.”

 

“As a matter of fact, I knew him well. He was one of the founding members of SHIELD.” Then Fury checked his watch casually, as if he had another person’s life to mess with after he was done with Tony.

 

Tony’s jaw dropped. “What?” Two suits walked behind Fury and deposited a large metal case in front of him.

 

Fury got up to leave. “I got a 2:00.”

 

“Wait, wait—you can’t just drop a bomb like that—”

 

Fury interrupted. “Okay. You’re all good here, right?”

 

“What? No, I’m not good!” replied Tony hurriedly. “And what’s in the box?”

 

Fury ignored him. “You got this, right? Right?” prodded Fury.

 

“Got what? What am I supposed to get?”

 

Walking away, Fury muttered, “yeah”. He put on his trench coat, which Tony thought was ridiculous because it was fucking perfect, sunny Malibu weather, and Fury mentioned to Tony:

 

“Natasha will stay here with her cover intact.” Fury almost daring Tony to try and expose her status. “And you remember Agent Coulson, right?”

 

“Yeah,” mumbled Tony mutinously at the thought of them watching over him. And Loki as well, he thought with horror. Fury, about to exit, turned around to give a final word to Tony.

 

“And Tony, remember: I got my eye on you.” The eye-patched man tipped his head down, lone eye unimpressed with anything he might pull and warning him off any stupid stunts again.

 

Tony snorted once Fury was out of earshot. He stared out into the clear blue sea.

 

“We’ve disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world.” Natasha told him firmly.

 

Tony made a face.

 

“Good luck,” she said simply and left silently. Probably to lie in wait at his front door in case he decided to try his luck at leaving. He shuddered at the thought of the suddenly much scarier Natalie--now badass Natasha-- throwing him down as brutally as she did to Happy. Maybe even worse, since she wouldn’t have to keep a cover while working for SHIELD in his house and because she’d be entitled to use force per Fury’s likely instructions.

 

Tony turned around in place, throwing his arms up. Then remembered Coulson was still there, creepily smiling politely at him. Dammit, all SHIELD personnel must go through classes to learn how to be so silently sinister.

 

He turned to Coulson with the least pathetic, persuading face he had. “Please.” he whined.

 

No reaction from Coulson. Tony still tried his best to convince him to send one of the suits (or all, that’d be great) hanging ‘round to go on a Starbucks run. He did want them gone, but his espresso and coffee maker had combusted in the fight with Rhodey. And he was going to need coffee soon.

 

“I’m not here for that. I’ve been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises.” Coulson told him pleasantly, in a way that could not be good for him.

 

Tony started to edge away from Coulson, because he did not like the look of the gleam in Coulson’s eyes. Maybe he shouldn’t have given the poor guy such a hard time when he first approached him on behalf of SHIELD.

 

Coulson continued. “If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet.” he said with a bit too much cheer.

 

Tony stared at him. Jesus Christ. Everyone in SHIELD was insane. Fucking one-eyed bald guy with his trenchcoat and his crazy little man and lying pretty assassins.

 

“Okay?” pushed Coulson.

 

“Got it.”

 

“Enjoy your evening’s entertainment.” Coulson walked away.

 

Tony made sure he really was gone before looking intently at the metal case.

 

Property of H. Stark

 

Oh shit.  
____________

 

Tony brought the case belonging to his father down to the workroom. He dropped it on the floor without caring and it fell with a resounding thump, rattling the objects within.

 

“Huh,” he shrugged and went to find Loki.

 

Tony peeked into the spare bedroom he’d left the other man in and found Loki dressed to kill. Loki had been folding up his white shirt sleeves when Tony called out to him.

 

“Knock, knock.”

 

Loki turned around and smirked at him. Tony saw that the other man had managed to make the clothes that had spent the night on the floor by the bed look neatly pressed.

 

“Well, aren’t you looking sharp.” Tony said as he pressed a hand to the front of Loki’s waistcoat. He found that he quite liked the picture Loki made, order reclaimed in appearance. But all the sharp angles that Loki was in his suit could not stop the faint glimmer of desire in Loki’s eyes that he detected.

 

“Perhaps you would like the alternative? I have no objection to parading about in a sheet.” suggested Loki, eyes dancing with laughter and that tell-tale gleam.

 

Tony’s eyes bulged as he imagined Loki strutting through the mansion in a sheet while Coulson tased Tony for fooling around and Natasha silently judged him from the shadows.

 

“Maybe not. I have to figure something out for this organization I was telling you about. The director left some of their agents here to babysit me.”

 

Loki narrowed his eyes. “And what grants them the authority to order you what to do?”

 

Tony shrugged. “Because they’re SHIELD. And I what I have to do will supposedly stop me from dying.”

 

Loki froze and his eyes widened minutely. “What did you say?”

 

Tony was confused by the sudden change in behavior. “They’re trying to keep me from dying?”

 

“Before that.”

 

“Because they’re SHIELD?”

 

Loki’s face hardened and some emotion flitted across his face before he wiped it of all emotion.

 

“I see.” he said neutrally, at last, looking into the mirror art piece on the wall and running a long-fingered hand through his hair.

 

“What’s the deal with SHIELD? You’ve been bothered by them before?” questioned Tony.

 

Loki clasped his hands together and turned to look at Tony. “In a sense, I suppose.”

 

Tony wasn’t really sure what to make of the searching look Loki gave him but decided it probably wasn’t important.

 

“Shall we get busy?”

 

Tony was surprised. “What?” he squawked. “You mean—?”

 

“Getting to work on maintaining your existence. What ever did you think I meant?” Loki clarified, with a quirk of his mouth set in the way that Tony knew Loki had read his mind.

 

Tony get your mind out of the gutter, he berated himself.

 

“Uh, nothing really.”

 

___

 

They got over to the workroom without incident, except Loki looking interestedly at his holo-keypad.

 

Tony took a seat on a stool and Loki remained standing to lean back on the table. “Well. Here goes nothing.” he said as he unfastened the case. And stared at what was probably the most unhelpful contents he’d ever seen. Unless those blueprints held the plans of something to help save Tony, or if the film reel had his dearly departed father instructing him on how to create some combination of elements he’d somehow missed…

 

But Tony doubted it.

 

“Damn Howard.” he muttered. The other man raised a brow.

 

“Do not tell me you are giving up? Surely there must be something of help in all of the contents.”

 

That Loki...not easily dissuaded, thought a small part of Tony’s mind.

 

“Don’t call me Shirley.” he mumbled distractedly. Loki didn’t notice, as he was peering in the case.

 

“May I?” Loki asked.

 

“Sure,” replied Tony “Knock yourself out.”

 

Loki glanced at him, startled.

 

“Oh,you know—its a form of speech.” tried Tony. “It just means for you to go ahead.”

 

Loki muttered something like “Odd Midgardians” that didn’t make sense, which easily could have been “Odd Americans”. Right?

 

Loki reached inside the case and took out the blueprints. He unfurled the roll of papers with long fingers that Tony was way too fixated on. Loki studied the blueprints with deep concentration for a moment.

 

“They are the plans for…a reactor not unlike the one you have in your chest. Designed by Howard Stark.” he focused his clear green gaze on Tony. “Your father?”

 

Tony mustered up a sarcastic laugh. “Not much of one, but yes.”

 

Something changed in Loki as Tony admitted the truth and he turned to look away. Tony pulled his eyebrows as he considered why Loki was reacting so weirdly. He put a hand on Loki’s shoulder.

 

Loki flinched and turned, guarded and biting at his lip almost furiously.

 

“Hey,” Tony said softly, as if speaking to a wild animal. Because even for all the order and perfection that Loki exuded, the slender man was all rawness and chaotic force. “What’s wrong?”

 

Loki seemed to be considering telling Tony something. Tony watched as resolution darted across Loki’s face. Loki released his lower lip and then unconsciously brought his lip back in his mouth again. Tony, for all he could help his libido, zoned in on how it shined and looked absolutely kissable when he brought it out. He forced his badly timed desire down when Loki found it time to speak.

 

“My father—” Loki grit out. “was not unlike yours, I believe. Or maybe he was worse. I know not. All my life he barely tolerated me. It was not until recently that I found out the truth.” An angry flush was rising in his cheeks as he talked.

 

Loki’s voice dropped down to a near whisper that Tony very nearly couldn’t hear. “He had found me, as an infant orphan, thrown away on the steps of a ruined building. And he took me in.” he admitted.

 

“I never knew until I saw the irrefutable truth in front of me. The man I thought was my father refused to tell me until he fell ill. He is in for a long sleep and may never wake up. My family is scattered— but I was never a part of that family. I was always an outsider and a stranger imposing on them.” Loki hissed, clenching his hands like claws and staring wildly into them.

 

He spoke lowly, then, to his hands. “At times I wonder if it should have been better if he had left me there to die.”

 

Tony looked up at him, mouth open in shock. “Hell no,” Tony blurted too quickly. Loki’s head lifted up from his hands and intense focus on his pale wrist, as if he had been expecting it to change. Now that Loki’s eyes met Tony’s, he could see how Loki had been betrayed by his shitty family. His green eyes were clouded, seeing some far off memory, and glistening, as if very close to angry, raging, anguished weeping. His brows pulled together.

 

“What—”

 

“No,” Tony said more quietly. “Its way better for you to be here, alive, and maybe hurt by those bastards, but still living and had lived a life...than to have never lived at all.” Tony lifted a hand to caress Loki’s cheek. Loki blinked and a drop escaped from his eyes and Tony wiped it with his thumb as it ran down the pale man’s face.

 

“Trust me,” he said carefully. “I know what its like to have an asshole father. He doesn’t compare to yours. He had never really lied about me being his son. At least, I don’t think so.”

 

“Despite all the years I spent with his uncaring ass and all the things I’ve gone through: being held hostage in Afghanistan—"

 

Here Tony watched Loki carefully, scanning the other man for something that he didn't know yet. It was a nagging feeling in his gut that told him that something wasn't quite right about Loki. And Loki's lack of recognition at Tony's capture in Afghanistan was one thing more to be suspect about. The capture of a successful, playboy business tycoon made headlines in gossip, local, financial, political, and world news. Truly strange...

 

And if Loki's tale of not knowing him was true, what kind of hermit did one have to be to not hear about it?

 

Or even more sinisterly, Loki was sent by a rival company, like that douche Hammer, to learn his secrets...or even finish the job of killing him.

 

Tony pushed those pessimistic thoughts away forcefully. Loki's expressions and emotions were as real as it could get. There was no faking the betrayal of his family.

 

Tony continued. "Being betrayed and abandoned by people I had trusted was probably the single worst experience of my life. But don't ever think for a goddamn minute that I would give it all up, the good and the bad, to end my life!" he finished fiercely.

 

Loki looked at him with a mixed expression of disbelief and wonder.

 

"I'm dying, yeah, but I'm not giving up anymore. And you shouldn't even think about killing yourself. You know what? Fuck your family. Fuck mine. Just forget about them." Tony forcefully told him.

 

"I always thought the best revenge was thinking jack shit about what they think and not giving a flying fuck about it. Just do what you want, Loki. Be fucking awesome." Tony ran a hand comfortingly through Loki's longer hair. And he gazed back at Tony with the most open expression he'd had with Tony, with the exception of during sex. It was so breathtakingly beautiful and vulnerable that Tony just had to capture Loki's trembling mouth with his own shaky lips.

 

They kissed fervently. And if both of them ended up swallowing each other’s sobs, none of them noticed. They comforted each other in the way two broken souls like them could. The pair drifted over to a corner in the shop that had a large reclining chair and Tony removed his robe to drape it over the chair.

 

Then with hushed murmurs and careful, gentle touches, they made love to each other as tenderly as they had never done with another. As if terrified if they were too brusque, the other would shatter.

 

When their hearts had slowed, and they were pressed together languidly on the extended recliner, Tony ran his fingers over the jet black of Loki's hair. Loki lay with his chest pressed to Tony's, hand tracing the arc reactor slowly.

 

"Thank you." Loki said simply, looking from under his long dark eyelashes.

 

"You don't have to thank me," Tony murmured quietly, squeezing Loki's shoulder. "I don't even know where you live. I don't know why, but I think you'll be fine." he gestured with his free hand not squished by Loki. "After all that."

 

Loki propped himself on his elbow, hand under his chin.

 

"You'll be great, Loki. You'll be the greatest at wherever it is you do. And you show those sonofbitches what's up."

 

Tony waited for what seemed an eternity until Loki reacted. Loki's face broke into a fond smile.

 

"Oh, you absolute fool." he said fondly. "You are the maddest human I've met, but I think you'll do. If you'll have me, of course."

 

"Why not?" Tony grinned, then promised ."After this mess is all dealt with, I'll take you out. Show you off."

 

Loki's eyes narrowed. "I am not some trophy to be paraded about. My father attempted to do so when he took me in—"

 

"Whoa there. I didn't mean it like that."

 

Loki was vaguely threatening as he warned, "See that you don't."

 

Jesus. Loki could get hella scary. Tony still wasn't entirely sure what he'd gotten himself into. But he couldn't find in him to tear himself from Loki.

 

Loki. Who was maddeningly handsome and charming with his dry, sharp wit. If Tony managed to survive past tomorrow, then he'd see about something longer, something permanent with Loki. Because he wouldn't let Loki go without a struggle. It felt so weird but he never knew who he had been searching for all his life until that moment he looked up in the donut shop and saw that tall man standing there.

 

"I won't." Tony promised. Then he cringed as arc reactor sent a painful twinge through his chest. He wheezed.

 

Loki sat up in alarm. "Are you well?"

 

"Yeah, it's just the palladium." then he tried to get up. Loki caught him, concern written on his features.

 

"What do you need?"

 

Tony pointed to the workstation. "The cartridge just burned out, I think. I need to replace it from my workstation over there."

 

Loki supported him easily and deposited him on a rolling stool.

 

"Thanks."

 

Tony took out his Dad's old cigar box and picked out a new Palladium cartridge. He popped out the arc reactor and removed the burned out, smoking metal that remained of the palladium. Loki appeared slightly disturbed at the state of the box.

 

"I hope that is not how it is normally." he said gingerly.

 

Tony popped in the new palladium and inserted the arc reactor in his chest. He sighed as it started up. "Nah. Just recently, with the blood poisoning."

 

"Then we must make haste to search for an answer." Loki uttered urgently.

 

"Right on." agreed Tony, moving around to test the effectiveness of the new insertion. JARVIS helpfully pulled up a mirror to check on the pattern of the poisoning. "Thanks buddy," he told his AI.

 

"Shall I determine your blood toxicity level, sir?" JARVIS queried.

 

"No, that's fine." Tony said, catching Loki's unreadable green eyes over his shoulder as he looked in the mirror. Loki took in the patching of veins emanating from the arc. He frowned faintly and then recovered to get his clothes and study the case. Tony walked back to the recliner corner and got dressed again.

 

"Since you're so eager to help, why don't you take the film reels and see if there's anything important? I'll look over his notebooks."

 

Tony got the stack of notebooks and went through them fairly quickly because when he went over to where Loki was watching the film, he still hadn't finished.

 

Loki had settled into recliner, sitting with his legs about five miles apart and with an arm on each armrest of the sofa like it was a throne. Hmm. Now that just gave Tony filthy ideas.

 

"How's it going?" he asked Loki.

 

"Unfortunately, all the film seems to be the unused sections for the Expo. But this particular roll, I cannot help but think there is a hidden message."

 

"Play it again."

 

The reel clicked as it started back up again and then there was a card denoting that film for the Stark Expo and the date of filming as September 15, 1973.

 

Tony watched with half of his attention on the movie, habit from years of ignoring his father as a teenager still going strong. He would've missed that part if Loki hadn't jabbed him in the ribs in time to hear his dad say:

 

"—and everything you'll need for the future can be found here." In the video, Howard swept his hand over the mini model of Stark Expo.

 

"That sounds much more than a simple phrase. It may be a clue." Loki hissed at him. Tony twisted his mouth around thinking about it.

 

"I don't know—"

 

The audio from the movie overpowered their discussion halfway through.

 

"Why else would SHIELD hand it over?" reasoned Loki.

 

"Because they're overconfident in thinking I know jack about what I do half the time—"

 

"From all of us at Stark Industries, I would like to personally—Tony, what are you doing back there? Put that back where you got it from! Where's your mother? Go on—go, go." shooed the elder Stark.

 

"Finest parenting in progress." said Tony dryly.

 

"You said he died more than twenty years ago?"

 

"Yeah, he died in a car crash along with my mom." Tony answered, mood taking a nosedive.

 

"Tony, he is long gone. Nothing he hasn't done before can harm you now." Loki told him firmly.

 

"I know—"

 

"Tony. " the movie with his dad continued and it was enough to shut him up. It took him back decades in the past to a time when he was a kid being lectured by his dad. It was eerie how it seemed like he had transcended time and was talking to Tony in the here and now.

 

"You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you."

 

His dad reached behind him in a sweeping gesture to showcase the Stark Expo. "I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work."

 

Tony rolled his eyes at that. But began to think something was up with all the panning that the camera did at the model. The next shot had Howard saying solemnly, "This is the key to the future." Then followed a series of close-ups of various landmarks of the pavilions, immediately ending on a mockup of the arc reactor...

 

"I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out," said the older man, nodding in the direction of the model.

 

"And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation...is you." Tony stared at the screen frowning mouth set in stone, but eyes confused and uncertain. The reel cut out and skipped as the movie ended.

 

"Tony. "

 

Tony had to blink quickly to stop the sudden irritation in his eyes. Probably dust floating down from upstairs. He turned to Loki.

 

"Do you know what happened to that model of Stark Expo that was in the film?"

 

Tony struggled to remember the old dusty thing. It wasn’t in his mansion. Hell no, he'd let anything like that in his house. Maybe Stark headquarters? Yeah, he distinctly remembered it being in one of the rarely used offices.

 

"I think it's at Stark HQ." he replied to Loki. "Why?"

 

"It's obvious, is it not? You cannot have missed how frequently he appeared to reference the Stark Expo model. There lies the answer.”

 

“What, like a little rolled up blueprint hidden under a Belgian waffle stand?” Tony snickered.

 

“I am sure that anything would be of importance at this point.” remarked Loki, eyeing the arc reactor with a wary gaze.

 

"I see where you're coming from but I don't know what use is it going to be where I'm here —basically under house arrest— and the model is all the way in town."

 

Loki thought for a moment. "You may be limited to the perimeter that SHIELD has installed, but I am not. I'll simply slip past your guards."

 

Tony gaped. "That plan has so many things wrong with it. And it's not even much of a plan. If you somehow get past those psychos hanging round here, you'll be caught in Stark Industries by security."

 

"Who said I'll be caught?" smirked Loki.

 

Tony goggled a bit at this ridiculously hot man he'd managed to snag that was just as arrogant as he was.

 

"Right. 'Cause you're like the master spy extraordinaire."

 

"I have many titles. That may just be one of them." shrugged Loki.

 

"Christ, what are you?" breathed Tony.

 

"I'd like to believe that what I am is less important that what I do."

 

"Nice philosophy." remarked Tony, fighting hard to push down the rush of memories that Loki evoked. "So let's get started, raven."

 

Tony clapped his hands as he got up. "JARVIS, pull up that free form holo of HQ."

 

Loki loomed behind him as he expanded the floor plans of headquarters.

“Here you go. Want me to give you a portable version of it to take with you?”

Loki quickly scanned the holo intensely. “No, that shall not be necessary.”

“You’re going to remember all that?”

“Yes. I’ll be back.” said Loki as he left the workroom quickly.

Tony frowned. He made an attempt to follow Loki out the mansion, but when he got to the ground floor, Loki was nowhere to be found.

This was getting more and more suspicious…

_____________

 

"That was easy," breathed Tony, sweaty and starting to feel the exhaustion.

 

He slipped under the accelerator and straightened up, taking off his protective shades. He tossed the frames on the table and got up close to the new element. Carefully, he took a pair of pincers and picked the glowing triangle.

 

"Congratulations, sir. You have created a new element."

 

Tony paid JARVIS little attention, marveling at the almost glasslike element. He laid the creation painstakingly in the reactor.

 

It glowed brighter and brighter, in sync with the reactor's beeping, until it got to a gentle hum.

 

"Sir, the reactor has accepted the modified core. I will begin running diagnostics."

 

Tony let a little sigh of relief escape him at the news. He leaned in closer to watch the reactor avidly. He had to force himself away to keep from staring too hard. It wasn’t going to help anything if he strained his eyesight.

 

"Nothing like a job well done." smirked Loki.

 

"Don't I know it, Loki. Don't I know too well." responded Tony wearily. "Anyway, let's clean up this hot mess here—"

 

He snapped at a robot bobbing aimlessly in the corner. "Hey, DUM-E, you, can we clean up this mess? You're killing me here..."

 

JARVIS cut his trailing thoughts off. "Incoming call with a blocked number, sir."

 

Tony turned in direction of the holoscreen, bemused.

What followed next made the blooming hope extinguish itself as he realized that Vanko was going to attack his Expo. All those people would be in danger. And probably Rhodey, Pepper, and Fury’s henchwoman Natasha/Natalie as well were being threatened by Vanko.

All on a stupid grudge against something his father did.

Tony set his face in stone, pulling up the design of the suit and making changes for the new reactor. He was going to have to go and try to hold Vanko off.

“What are you doing?” hissed Loki, green eyes narrowed.

“What else? I’m going to fight Vanko before he kills anyone.” retorted Tony.

“You must realize that this is a trap, do you not?”

“I don’t care. If I don’t go, Vanko’s going to attack the audience out of rage. I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t.”

“You shall surely die. Tests are still being run on your new reactor.” argued Loki.

“No, it’s not.” replied Tony, as he grabbed the new arc reactor and then inserted in it his chest roughly. “I’m going to test it now.”

“You fool—“ seethed Loki.

“Sir, the tests are not completed yet.“ JARVIS objected.

“—you will kill yourself—“

Tony didn’t hear anything as the reactor pulsed brighter and brighter and hummed steadily louder.

“Oh God, it tastes like…coconut and—“ he choked “—metal.“

JARVIS informed him, somewhat huffy, if an AI could sound like that. “The new reactor’s assimilation is complete. There appears to be no adverse effects.”

“You really do have a death wish, don’t you?” Loki said irritably.

“I don’t. Really. I just take risks sometimes.” replied Tony. A thought about his suspicions came to mind. “Speaking of risks, mind telling me who you really are?”

Tony stepped closer to Loki. “I’d think you’re a spy from Hammer but there’s no way he could ever control someone like you.”

“No one controls me.” snarled Loki.

“Then there’s more to you that you’re not telling me. You’re deliberately withholding information that most people give around like candy. Where are you even from? Wait, don’t tell me, you can’t tell me anything, right?”

Loki was silent.

“Just tell me one thing. Why did you follow me?” he asked, before exhaling noisily. “Why do…all of this?”

Loki regarded him with cold green eyes, before his expression closed off.

“I followed you because I desired you” said Loki loftily. “That is all.”

“And nothing else?”

“You need a reason?” asked Loki. “You intrigued me. Nothing more.”

“Was all of it a lie?“ spat Tony. "Huh?” He laughed harshly. "No, wait. Do I want to know? Maybe not."

"Do not make me your enemy" warned Loki.

"Yeah, whatever.” Tony said heatedly. “Just—just get out. I don’t want to see you again.”

The only sound he heard above the rushing of blood in his ears was the door of the workroom slamming shut as Loki left. He closed his eyes.

————————

Tony leaned back on his desk, waiting for the last minute changes on his suit were made to accommodate the new reactor.

 

He closed his eyes wearily. He got another chance at life. Tony should be jumping for fucking joy and shit. But his thoughts kept drifting back to Loki.

 

"JARVIS, tell me, is it normal to think so much about someone?"

 

Tony could still see him, feel him.

 

"No, sir. Shall I direct you to a document on help for obsessions?"

 

He saw him still. With that hair that should not have worked so well, the sun caught in his raven hair. Something told Tony that this burning feeling, blazing through him, was not from the new reactor.

 

"No."

 

Damn Loki. Damn Loki for being so interesting, so arresting, so captivating—

 

Loki. The stranger who set the flame raging out of control.

 

Their time together had been a whirlwind two days. What was that in the whole scheme of things? It was just a blink of an eye.

 

Sure, it was longer than the flings and one-night stands he’d always had before. But how could Tony be so stupid? He practically fell into Loki's arms for nothing.

 

"The new changes are complete, sir."

 

Tony shook himself forcefully. Just push all these now unwanted feelings away. He was never going to see Loki again. What he needed to focus on now was stopping Vanko from tearing up the Expo.

 

"Let's get rolling, JARVIS."

________________

 

Tony was evading Vanko’s drones when he saw something gold flash by him.

“What the fuck was that?” he swerved erratically. “Did you see what that was, Rhodey?”

“No, I didn’t. But I think it was a man.” replied Rhodey.

“I’m gonna go check it out. Catch you later.” Tony saluted before putting the thrusters on full as he turned unexpectedly and headed right for the drones, causing them to scatter.

“JARVIS, keep trying to hack Rhodey’s suit. I’d rather not have him against me.” he said. Then he yelped in surprise.

He was almost hit by a jet of green light that instinctively made him shy away from it. He didn’t know what it was and he didn’t want to find out the hard way.

“Shit. Do we have another aggressor, JARVIS?” he breathed.

The HUD focused in on a figure that was jumping from the roof of one building to another, sending out jets of energy at the drones. One was caught by the unidentifiable energy and burst into flames.

“Let’s figure out who or what this is.”

It was difficult trying to catch up to the figure in black, because they were incredibly fast and nimble. Then there was the little problem of following something that looked to be teleporting or something as unbelievable as that.

Finally, he was able to catch up to the person or thing.

The only thing he could do was gape for a moment and then open his mouth to say “Fuck you, man. Fuck. You. How in the fucking hell did you even get here?”

Loki rolled his eyes at him. “That is irrelevant. We have to disable the robots and clean up this disaster.”

“What about the mess you made with me, you bastard.”

He gave what could be considered a shrug. “You started it.”

“Right, going straight to the first grade insults.”

“In my defense, I had not anticipated getting to such a point with you.” Loki explicated.

“Ditto. But why are you here?” Tony asked.

 

“I--” began Loki. “I couldn’t stay away.”

 

Tony’s anger lessened a little.

 

They were interrupted by Rhodey heading right towards them. It looked like the drones had found them again, with Rhodey leading them like a messed up band marshal of a parade. “Dammit tony, I’m locked on you again. Stop bickering with your boyfriend and move.”

 

Tony tried to tell Loki to step aside. “Okay, look, I appreciate the gesture but what can you do against them—”

 

Loki gave him the most unimpressed glare he’d ever received in his life. Then he rolled his eyes and shifted into a battle stance. The Hammer drones rounded the corner as Loki bared a feral grin.

 

Wait. What was he wearing? Was that—a glow?

 

Loki clenched his body and threw a disk, which seemed to come out of nowhere, powerfully at the drones. Tony didn’t know where to look: whether at the man that was just getting sexier by the second almost, the energy readouts near Loki, the chain reaction of three drone explosions, or Rhodey hurtling at him.

 

“Shit—!” he pushed full power at the repulsors just in time to dodge the hail of bullets. Then while laughing wildly from the giddy adrenaline rush he was on, he yelled at Loki, who was darting through the crowd of people.

“Hey, Gandalf, grab on!”

Loki smirked and then leaped up to settle on his back comfortably. They made quick work of the drones; Tony using some tricks he’d added to the suit and beating up the bots as usual, and Loki doing his own mesmerizing work with green energy and summoning daggers out of the air to cleave at the drones.

That teleporting thing he did was pretty useful when they realized the drones were bombs about to go off. Loki even grabbed Pepper. Which Tony half-heartedly wished he didn’t, because Pepper was going off at him.

When she’d finally calmed down, thanks to Rhodey, Tony turned around wildly looking for Loki.

But he was nowhere to be found.

___________________

 

"It is my honor to be here today to present these distinguished awards to Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes and Mr. Tony Stark, who is, of course, a national treasure."

Stern clearly looked like he’d rather eat worms than tell anything complementary about Tony, when he got to him, but gritted his teeth and forcedly said, “Thank you, Mr. Stark. You deserve this.”

"Let's get a photo," Senator Stern told them, Tony and Rhodey, grudgingly.

 

The photographer aimed their camera at them as the senator rather smarmily put a hand on Tony and Rhodey's shoulder, all of a sudden trying to look chummy with the heroes.

Tony suddenly had the inspiration to free his arm/shoulder a bit from that bastard's hold and he raised his right hand to throw a peace sign at the camera, something he knew he was going to do every time he did something to piss Stern off.

At first Tony was falsely smiling at the camera, but then he caught sight of a familiar black suited man with a houndstooth scarf, standing regally in the crowd.

 

He couldn't help but laugh as his eyes met the one person he was hoping to see.

 

Loki.

 

*************************************

 

Fin.

 

***  
“Light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.”  
-Vladimir Nabokov

**Author's Note:**

> I went out of the country and couldn't post it. My deepest apologies for the lateness! 
> 
> (Edit)  
> 8tracks playlist: http://8tracks.com/mixes/3215953/


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